TL;DR
- Gaming has grown by nearly $30 billion with recent deal activities.Â
- Some of the biggest advancements include a significant deal between Disney and Epic.Â
- Mergers and acquisitions included Tencent for Easybrain and MTG acquiring Plarium.Â
- The Drake Star Gaming Index increased by 10%, bolstering public trust in the stock.Â
- It’s projected that 2025 could be an even larger year for gaming finance.Â
What do $27.3 billion, a wave of buyouts, and a Disney-backed funding round have in common? They all point to a significant rebound in gaming finance.
In 2024, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) surged, venture capital (VC) stayed strong, and public gaming stocks showed signs of life. Together, these trends offer a clear picture of where investor interest is heading, so let’s explore the numbers and see which parts of the industry are moving fastest.
The data in this article comes from the Drake Star Global Gaming Report Q4 2024.
Total deal volume: M&A, VC and public markets
Gaming deal activity bounced back in 2024, with a total of $27.3 billion in disclosed value across 967 deals. That’s a 39% increase in deal value compared to 2023, which is clear evidence that confidence in the market is returning, even if the number of deals stayed about the same.
M&A made up a big chunk of that movement:
- There were 198 M&A deals, up 21% from the year before
- The total value hit $10.5 billion, with major acquisitions driven by both private equity firms and big-name publishers
Private placements also stayed strong:
- A total of 711 VC deals were recorded, though that’s slightly fewer than in 2023
- They still brought in $4.8 billion, up 30% in value year-on-year
- Most of the funding went to early-stage projects, especially in blockchain, mobile, and platform tools
Public markets played their part too:
- GameStop brought in $3 billion in new capital
- Shift Up launched a highly successful IPO in Korea
Who’s buying what: A breakdown of major M&A deals
2024 saw some big-name gaming acquisitions, with private equity firms and global publishers making bold moves.
Here are a few of the largest disclosed deals:
- EQT bought Keywords Studios for $2.8 billion, expanding into game development services and localisation
- Playtika agreed to buy SuperPlay in a deal worth up to $1.95 billion, reinforcing its focus on mobile games
- Tencent, through Miniclip, picked up Easybrain for $1.2 billion, adding casual hits like Sudoku.com to its mobile lineup
- MTG acquired Plarium for $820 million, gaining access to titles like Raid: Shadow Legends and strengthening its mobile presence
Looking at the segments, PC and console led the way with 53 deals, while mobile followed with 38 and platform/tools with 32.
Private placements and VC: Early-stage deals dominate
Private placements in 2024 primarily focused on younger companies, with over 90% of VC deals going to early-stage startups. Even though the number of deals dropped slightly compared to the previous year, the amount of money raised went up.
Some of the biggest funding rounds included:
- Epic is raising $1.5 billion from Disney
- Aonic is securing $105 million from Metric Capital
- Infinity Reality is bringing in $350 million
- Build A Rocket Boy collected a total of $110 million
By segment, blockchain led the way with 250 deals, followed by platform tools (133) and mobile (111).
On top of that, investors poured more than $1.8 billion into new gaming funds, including $600 million from a16z, $275 million from Bitkraft, and $142 million from Vgames.
Public market performance and valuation trends
The Drake Star Gaming Index went up by 10.4% in 2024, a sign that confidence in public gaming stocks is starting to increase again.
Some of the top performers included:
- Sea, which jumped by 162.9%
- DeNA, up 105.7%
- Konami, gaining 80.6%
But not every company had a strong year. Unity’s stock dropped by 47.4%, while Wemade and Corsair fell by 49.6% and 54.0%, respectively.
Looking at how companies are valued, two common benchmarks are EV/Revenue and EV/EBITDA:
- EV/Revenue compares a company’s total value to its yearly revenue. It’s a basic measure of how expensive a company is relative to its size.
- EV/EBITDA compares value against earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. It’s a way to compare profitability across companies.
On average:
- Mobile firms traded at 1.2x EV/Revenue and 5.3x EV/EBITDA
- PC/Console companies were higher at 3.3x and 19.4x, showing investor preference for premium IP and revenue scale.
Firms based in APAC generally had more substantial EBITDA margins than their US and European counterparts, showing better cost efficiency and monetisation, especially in mobile.
Conclusion
The numbers from 2024 tell a clear story. M&A deals were up, early-stage funding stayed active, and public gaming stocks started to recover. While not every part of the market is doing equally well, investment flows into the areas with the most potential.
With more consolidation and new projects, gaming finance will likely grow even stronger in 2025.
FAQs
Konami is one of Japan’s most well-known developers and publishers, with franchises including Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, and Contra. It has pivoted into different revenue territories, such as trading cards, anime, pachinko, gacha, and more.Â
While Disney does not own Epic, it does have a 9% stake in the company, which equates to $1.5 billion per the valuation.
References
- Star Global Gaming Report 2024)
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